Spotlight: A clinical, precise and riveting dramatization of a bloody war of words

Michael Keaton

Press Association

Published:20:00Thursday 28 January 2016

At its best, investigative journalism is a scalpel that slices through fatty rhetoric and cuts readers to the bones of institutions that should be defending our interests.

In early 2002, the Spotlight Investigations team of the Boston Globe ran a series of meticulously researched articles, exposing the sexual abuse of minors in the Boston archdiocese.

Coverage of the scandal rippled far beyond the city and compelled other victims to come forward, which sent shockwaves through the Roman Catholic Church.

The newspaper was subsequently awarded the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in Journalism for its courageous and comprehensive coverage, which lifted a heavy veil of secrecy stretching back several decades.

Thomas McCarthy’s impeccably crafted drama pays tribute to the close-knit team of tenacious editors and reporters who tirelessly pursued the ugly truth and wrung their sweat and tears into the exposes.

Deputy Managing Editor Ben Bradlee Jr (John Slattery) presides over the Boston Globe newsroom and has direct responsibility for the Spotlight team led by Walter “Robby” Robinson (Michael Keaton).